


dessert

by Pillow_Bee



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2454386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pillow_Bee/pseuds/Pillow_Bee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s his birthday today?”</p><p>He checks his watch. The little box next to the number 3 says <i>TUE |14</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dessert

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday, ben whishaw.  
> also, happy national dessert day.

“Where’s Q?”

Bond’s polite inquiry is met with R’s steady gaze. Her hands do not falter as she continues to type in a string of codes at an incredible speed. Bond’s only seen one other person type like that, perhaps even faster – and the same person should be the one standing there handling 004’s mission in Vietnam at this very moment, not R.

“Equipments to return?” R asks as Bond’s gaze starts to wander around Q-branch. It is half past midnight, and the graveyard shift has just begun. Bond cannot see the messy mop of dark hair that belongs to his quartermaster anywhere.

“Mm,” he answers. R tears her eyes away from Bond’s as she directs 004 patiently through a crowded marketplace and into a back alley. “Q’s warned me to return them directly to him,” he clarifies with a shrug. “I thought he’s supposed to be here.”

“He’s in his office, enjoying his birthday presents,” R says eventually as 004 has reached his hotel safely. She then looks at Bond. “Please don’t ruin this for him. It’s been a long day for us.”

Bond’s heard as much from Moneypenny. Something about a hacking attempt. “It’s his birthday today?”

He checks his watch. The little box next to the number 3 says _TUE |14_.

“He’s just turned thirty-four half an hour ago.”

“Hmm.”

“Like I said, don’t ruin this for him,” R warns him again. Bond simply nods, and R tips her head in the direction of Q’s office as if to say, _well, off you go then._

Bond turns his attention to the door that leads into a small hallway and then to Q’s office. He makes his way steadily towards the office, nodding at certain Q-branch members as he passed.

Bond’s only been in Q’s office once, some four months after Skyfall, and it had been one of the most awkward situations he has faced to date. He’d wanted to thank his quartermaster for what he’d done, but at the same time, he had also been extremely curious as to why Q had so willingly helped him.

In the end, he had left Q’s office without really getting any answers – but something between them had definitely changed since then. They are no longer just a stubborn agent and an equally stubborn quartermaster. Bond couldn’t really make sense of it, and trying to explain it in words is definitely even harder – but there they are: there’s Q, an ever-present voice in his ear during missions, and then there’s Bond, who sometimes deliberately turns left instead of right just to hear the pitch of Q's voice climb up a notch.

(And sometimes there are secret glances from behind those thick glasses that Bond’s pretended not to notice – other times, there are sharp little gasps over the comms whenever Bond’s jumped off a building or fallen off a moving motorbike or being shot at during missions.)

But at the moment, the chair behind Q’s large desk is empty.

Instead, Q’s lanky figure is stretched out across the beat-up leather sofa in one corner of his office. His right arm is draped across his eyes while the left one dangles off the side of the sofa, his long, pale fingers nestled among the synthetic fibres of the carpet. The coffee table that stands parallel to the sofa is littered with colourful boxes and packages, with cards and ribbons taped to them.

Q is snoring, open-mouthed and loud enough for Bond to be able to hear him from all the way across the office.

Bond is still deciding whether he should wake Q up or just leave (and whether it is appropriate to think of his tired, sleeping, snoring quartermaster as _beautiful_ ) when R suddenly appears next to him.

“We all chipped in. It’s the best present yet, I think,” she says. Bond scans the table for a large box or a state-of-the-art device or _something_ , but does not see one.

“What is?” he asks, frowning a little.

“Q’s asked us to wake him up two hours ago, when 004’s landed in Vietnam. We let him sleep instead.”

Bond arches his eyebrows at this. Time, he admits, _is_ the best present one can give to an extremely workaholic boss.

“He’s been on his feet for almost eight hours straight today, battling those hackers – they’ve been taken care of, obviously – and hasn’t had proper sleep ever since 005’s little exploding motorboat incident three days ago.”

The first thought that pops into Bond’s head is to hunt down 005 and strangle him to death for making Q worry. The second thought is that he should buy something for Q as well.

“What should I do with this, then?” Bond asks, indicating at the small black case that contains his equipments. “I obviously shouldn’t wake him up.”

“Hand it to me,” R says, and Bond does. “I’ll tell him you dropped by.”

Bond nods. “Thank you.”

He glances one last time at the snoring figure on the sofa, and leaves.

\---

When Q wakes up some _six hours_ after 004’s landed in Vietnam (where is R? he shall give her the scolding of a lifetime – she may be a lot older than he is, but letting him sleep on the job is not something he appreciates), he finds that his coffee table has been invaded with boxes and parcels and packages of presents.

Everyone he meets wishes him happy birthday, and he wishes he doesn’t go pink all the way to his ears, but he does, so he ends up scolding R a little too harshly and Q-branch falls silent for a moment or two.

But then shots begin to fire in Vietnam and 004, as meticulous an agents as he is, is forced to play things by ear – which means the whole of Q-branch needs to be on their toes at all times, so Q’s birthday is forgotten for a long while that day, and Q is thankful for that.

 

He only notices the chocolate cheese cake much, much later.

\---

 

_Eat._

_Happy birthday.  
-Bond_

 

\---

Q is sitting in front of his laptop, going through the surveillance video of Q-branch later that night.

At 9:46:03 AM (Q remembers that 004 was still in a very sticky situation then , so it only makes sense that neither he nor R had noticed), Q sees Bond’s figure stealthily moving between pillars and desks and Q-branch members all the way into his office.

And by 9:49:18 AM, Bond is gone.

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd so, yes.  
> thank you for reading~


End file.
